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The Europeans have developed such wonderful, low cost, no hassle ways of saving energy and water.
We spent a week in Lisbon this month.
Julie figured out how this wash basin saves water.
The low basin, plus the high faucet saves water. If you turn it on too much, it splatters water all over.
So you use just what you need.
You get the water you need, but not the water you don't need.
Brilliant. Low cost. It works.
I voted for the first time today with an electronic machine. 
Julie did it the old fashioned way. What do you think is the future of electronic voting?
Will we all be voting online in the future? Or will we be walking into polling places for the rest of our lives? Tell us your thoughts.
Participants at the LERN eMarketing Institute earlier this month got to see and play with the $100 Computer, courtesy of LERN and Nine Shift.
Some highlights:
- You can create music with it.
- You can do drawings on it.
- You can connect to the Internet with it.
- Small, and has a handle!
(Photo: Bethany Platenella from American Legal Institute in Philadelphia plays with the $100 computer at a LERN Institute this month in San Diego)
So, what do you think, what is the state of the "digital divide" now?
Finally, an aquarium.
The fish are beautiful swimming around, very calming. The sound of water running is calming.
Julie's model home office. She's excited about it. The 21st century: now you can customize your own office to your own tastes. What a wonderful thing.
A fireplace goes well with a new Persian carpet on the floor of Julie's new home office.
The fireplace makes the basement office warm and cozy, especially in a Wisconsin winter.
Julie's model home office. Your tastes will differ.
Large desk area, modern look, nice black trim on the bookshelves, furniture from Ikea. Large open area, the office is 12 feet by 24 feet, much larger than your ordinary office - office.
Home offices ranked as the fourth most important feature in a new upscale home, just ahead of security.*
*NYTimes.
Photo: Julie's new model home office takes shape. She installs an Egress window both for fire exit, and also for more sunlight. Flooring is wood panels from Ikea.
Some 7 in 10 Americans now have offices or designated workstations in their homes, a 112% increase since 2000, according to the American Home Furnishings Alliance.* 
*NYTimes.
Photo: Early work on Julie's home office renovation. Wait til you see the finished office!
More than 28 million Americans now work from home at least part time - - an increase of 10% from just the year before, and up 40% from 2002, according to the Dieringer Research Group, a marketing research company in Brookfield, Wisconsin.* Note the big increases, which will continue. 
* Not coincidentally, The New York Times did a story last month on home offices. Quotes this week from the article.
Today's photo: Workmen start on Julie's new home office.
After ten years of working at home, Julie and I finally figured out we don't have to have a home office that looks like an office - office. We can customize our home offices to fit our own tastes.
This week we feature Julie's office renovation, creating a model home office.
Today's photo: our basement, before renovation.
